


Rose Tinted Glasses

by orphan_account



Category: Layton's Mystery Journey
Genre: Angst, Friendship, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-21
Updated: 2019-04-21
Packaged: 2020-01-23 10:47:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,833
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18548230
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Ernest had been infatuated with Katrielle ever since they first met but Kat doesn't see it that way. It takes a stern talking to from Sherl to make Ernest see how she really treats him.





	Rose Tinted Glasses

There was a slight breeze coming through the windows of the Layton Detective Agency but it wasn’t enough to cool Katrielle, Ernest and Sherl. The dog was panting like mad and Ernest had to keep filling up his water bowl.

“Sherl, you’re going to explode if you keep drinking this much!” Katrielle said while finishing her sixth glass of water that day.

“You can talk! And what are all those cookies for anyway?! They’ll melt in the sun!” Sherl was always easily agitated.

“Oh, it’s alright, Sherl. Kat will eat them all before then, I assure you.” Ernest had come into the room with yet another baking tray full of cookies.

“Oh, thank you, Ernest!” Katrielle jumped to her feet excitedly, seeing all this delicious food in front of her.

Sherl stared in disbelief. “Aren’t you going to eat any, Ernest?”

“Oh, no. I’m perfectly alright with Kat eating them. It is my gift to her, after all.”

“But you slaved away at a stove all day, baking them all! In this heat, no less!”

Kat seemed ignorant of all this happening. She was in her own world of sweetness.  “Mmmm! These are so good!”

Sherl sighed, shaking his head. “What am I going to do with you two, eh?”

“Uh, what do you mean, Sherl?”

“Can I talk to you outside?”

“Alright.”

The boy closed the door after looking behind him to Katrielle. He smiled. He was happy that she was enjoying the cookies he had baked for her. The agency was having a slow day so Katrielle had expressed her desire for something sweet to keep up her motivation. She had made eyes at Ernest, saying how  _ lovely  _ it would be to have a cool glass of lemonade and sweets laid out in front of her while she battled this heatwave. Ernest had just been thinking of how hot he was, even if he had changed his usual outfit to suit the weather, but he just couldn’t say no to Miss Layton. He agreed straight away and got to baking. He was sweating like a pig but he couldn’t give up. He knew how disappointed Kat would be if he left the kitchen empty handed. 

“Hey! Are you listening?”

“Oh.” Ernest was shaken from his thoughts. “Sorry, Sherl.”

“I’m going to be honest with you here.”

“Aren’t you always?” Ernest laughed.

Sherl smiled, as only dogs can. “You got me there, pinstripes. Anyway, about Kat…”

“Oh, isn’t she just the best? She’s so brilliant and talented and-”

“Alright, we get it already! You talk about her enough as it is!”

“S-sorry.”

Sherl sighed, his ears drooping even lower than usual. “You’ve got to get over her.”

“What was that, Sherl?” Surely, Ernest’s ears must be playing tricks on him.

“You heard what I said. You’ve got to stand up for yourself and not just agree to everything she says. She’s got you wrapped around her little finger and she knows it. She manipulates you.”

Ernest gasped. Not Miss Layton! She could never do something like that. “Sherl, stop! You can’t say things like that!” Tears sprung to his eyes.

“Alright, calm down, Ernest. I- I’m sorry, alright?” It was an old habit of his to speak his mind, no matter how blunt, since humans couldn’t understand him. This was until he met Ernest and Kat and he still was trying to break that habit. “I can be blunt sometimes because most humans can’t understand me.”

Ernest nodded, wiping away tears. “I understand.”

“It is true though,” Sherl continued. “She tells you to do something and shoots you those puppy dog eyes and you do as she says without question. I see it all the time. It’s getting to be a problem with you.”

“A… problem?”

“Yep. Did you actually want to bake those cookies earlier?”

“Of course!” Ernest straightened up, hoping to look confident in his answer. “I wanted to see Miss Layton happy and she wasn’t going to be until she ate those cookies!”

Sherl groaned. This was going to be difficult. “Alright, I see. But if the cookies were for anyone but Kat, would you make them?”

Ernest thought for a moment and then shook his head. “No. I suppose not. It was very hot in the kitchen. It was uncomfortable.”

He lifted a paw, with a knowing smirk. “Well, there you go. It’s your infatuation with Kat that she uses to her advantage. She could have easily baked those cookies for herself.”

The more Ernest thought about it, the more he saw Sherl’s perspective. “I see. I understand now.”

Ernest’s head drooped. He felt so used. All because he had fallen in love with Miss Layton. She took him for granted and got him to do chores and pretty much everything around the office and she didn’t even pay him! Ernest was completely okay with this arrangement. He would be working side by side with the wonderful Katrielle and that was priceless enough. However, he now realised that Kat  _ should  _ be paying him. He deserved it! He had worked here for a year after all! A year of doing so much work and for nothing!

“Are you okay, pinstripes?” Sherl asked, concerned by how angry Ernest was getting.

“I’m going to have a talk with Miss Layton!”

Kat jumped when the door slammed behind Ernest and she spilled some of her lemonade on her dress. She sighed and rolled her eyes.

“Look what you made me do, Ernest! Could you pretty please get me a towel?”

“I’m done being your servant, Katrielle!” Ernest was fuming by this point. His face was red all over and his hands were balled into fists at his side. 

Sherl poked his head around the door, frightened that any noise would send Ernest into a frenzy. Kat spotted his little face peering around and scoffed.  

“Sherl! What did you say to him?!”

Sherl would usually have some retort to say back but he had never seen Ernest like this and he was genuinely terrified so he quickly let the door shut and sat outside with his ear pressed up to the door.

“Never mind Sherl! We need to talk!”

Katrielle looked up at him innocently. “Oh, of course. Please, sit down.” She didn’t have an inkling of why Ernest would be so upset.

Ernest took deep breaths, trying to calm himself down but he couldn’t forgive how Katrielle had made him feel. 

“What’s wrong, Ernest? If you really want a biscuit, you could just take one.”

Ernest suddenly stood up again and slammed his hands on the table, knocking over Katrielle’s lemonade which spilled all over the carpet. “It’s not about the biscuits!”

“Ernest!” Katrielle groaned.

“Why don’t you listen to me for one second?!”

Katrielle straightened up. She hated to see her lovely carpet get ruined but she supposed it could wait for a minute or two. She sighed. What had gotten into him? “Fine. What do you want to say?”

Another deep breath. “I really don’t like the way you are treating me.” Once he had said this, he started to calm down. It helped to say what was on his mind.

“What do you mean?” 

Ernest couldn’t tell whether she was genuinely ignorant about his feelings or if she was playing dumb. Either way, it would help Ernest to talk about this so he began. “I do all this work for you around the agency.” He gestured to the neatly organised bookshelves, Kat’s desk that had recently been tidied, and the cookies that sat in front of them. The more Ernest looked at them, the more he wanted one but he was determined to say his piece first. It had been too long. “I do  _ all this  _ for you and you don’t even say thank you. You just carry on as if I wasn’t even there. And you don’t even pay me! It’s just disgraceful!” Warm tears trickled down his face again and he buried his face in his hands. 

Katrielle looked at Ernest in shock. She was speechless. She had never thought about it in that way. At first, she only saw Ernest as her assistant and nothing more. She would ask him to do various tasks and he would comply right away. She got used to his obedience and she stretched him a little bit more each time. It was only for the sake of the agency. But she didn’t think he minded. He had never objected in any way so she had kept going. She had no idea how much this would play with his emotions. She knew that he would do anything for her but she had never bothered to look deeper into that, being busy with her detective work and such.

“Ernest, I’m sorry…”

Ernest shot her a look. “It took you long enough to apologise. Do you even know how I feel about you?”

“No…” Katrielle looked down at her hands. How could she have been so blind?

“I am in love with you, Katrielle. That’s why I do all these things for you. I didn’t care at first that you didn’t feel the same way because just being with you was enough. But Sherl helped me see that… I can’t just keep putting you first all the time. I just can’t.”

“I see.” That’s all she could think to say.

“So.” Ernest stood up, brushing himself off. He felt as if a weight had been lifted. He felt calmer now that he had said what he truly thought. He had been wearing rose-tinted glasses for so long and finally, he could see clearly again. “I’ve said my bit. If you have nothing else to say, I suppose I’ll be off. I’ll gather my things.”

Ernest started to walk out of the room to get the few things he bought to work with him and he planned on starting a new life. A life just for him. And no more Katrielle Layton. It would be difficult but he would move on from her.

“Ernest, wait.”

He gasped and turned around. Was Kat… crying?

“Miss Layton?” He muttered.

Her head was low and tears were falling onto the carpet, making another wet patch. The lemonade still hadn’t been cleaned up and both of them had near forgotten about it. Ernest had only seen Katrielle cry once so he was surprised and didn’t quite know what to do. He crouched down beside her and placed a hand on her shoulder. He wasn’t doing this because he was in love with her. As of now, he was a concerned friend. However angry Ernest had been, they were still friends and they shared history together. He couldn’t ignore that.

“Ernest,” she mumbled, not looking him in the eye. “I’m so sorry. I don’t want you to leave. I didn’t realise that I made you so mad.”

“Kat…”

“Listen for a moment, Ernest.” The boy went quiet and Katrielle cleared her throat feebly. “Believe it or not, I do care about you. I’m just not good at showing these things. Growing up without Papa has been  _ really  _ hard…” More tears fell to the floor. “And I tried so hard to be what he would want me to be. But he wasn’t really here so it has been hard to follow his practices. And I guess I slipped up, huh?” She laughed weakly. “I just assumed that you didn’t mind doing all of this for free, so I never brought it up again. I don’t have that much money coming in myself. We’re still a new business so I probably wouldn’t be able to pay you much anyway.”

“Something is better than nothing, Kat.”

She sighed. “I know. Would you stay if I began to pay you?”

Ernest chuckled. “Maybe. But I don’t just care about the money.”

Kat looked up at him, her eyes shining with tears. Ernest couldn’t help but stare into them for a moment and then looked away. This wasn’t the time. “What do you care about then?”

“I care about you! As a friend, not just my stupid infatuation. And I want you to care about me too. Maybe just saying thanks every now and again would do the trick.”

“But I said thank you for the cookies, didn’t I?”

“Yes, but we both know it was because you couldn’t wait to eat them. It wasn’t really to me, was it?”

Kat looked to the floor again. “No.”

Ernest stood up and Katrielle followed suit. She didn’t want him to leave. “Do you think you’ll be able to thank me more often starting from right now?”

She didn’t need to think about it at all. She nodded. “Thank you for telling me how you feel, Ernest. I’m sorry that I can’t return your affections but I hope we can still stay as friends.” She had previously wanted to ignore Ernest’s confession but she knew she couldn’t. That wouldn’t be right.

Ernest felt disappointed but he knew this was the best way forward. Possibly, now, their friendship could grow stronger now that all the air was cleared and Ernest could now see Katrielle as who she really was, not who he wanted her to be.

“Yes, of course,” Ernest smiled.

“And thank you for the cookies. I appreciate you baking them, especially in this heat. In truth, I was lazy and didn’t want to bake them myself and I knew you would say yes to me,” she sighed, feeling extremely guilty now that she realized how stupid this all sounded. “That’s what goes through my mind with everything else I ask you to do as well. I feel so awful. I’m so sorry, Ernest.”

“I understand where you’re coming from, Kat.” The girl looked up in surprise but he continued. “I was foolish too. I should have stood up for myself in situations like that but I didn’t. Sherl told me many times to do so but I ignored him, thinking that I knew what was best.”

Kat nodded. “It seems like we’ve both made mistakes.”

Ernest chuckled. “It seems so.”

“I hope you can forgive me, Ernest. I’ve been so ignorant all this time.”

“Of course I do, Miss Layton. We can start over. Deal?”

Ernest stuck out his hand but Katrielle ignored it completely, throwing her arms around him. She was close to crying again but she held it in this time. She knew now that everything would be okay. Ernest was surprised. He didn’t think that Kat would hug him like that. He had wanted to, of course, but since she hadn’t returned his affections, he thought it would be inappropriate to make such a gesture. Clearly, he was wrong about that. 

“Deal.”

Ernest smiled with relief. He thought he had blown it and he would have to leave Katrielle behind. He had never wanted to but he thought that would make his life better. It turns out that having her in it would be the best decision he could make for himself.

The door opened with a slight creak and Sherl appeared. He had listened to their whole conversation, waiting for the best moment to go back inside.

Katrielle turned to look at him, her arms still around Ernest. “Sherl, how long have you been sitting there?”

“Long enough,” Sherl smirked. “So you’ve made up now, eh?”

“Yes!” Katrielle said happily, hugging Ernest once again.

Ernest blushed, only because Sherl was sniggering to himself. The dog knew that Ernest was easily flustered. It amused him.

“So, who’s gonna get me more water? I’ve been sitting outside in the sun for ages while you two sat, chatting!” He had known that their conversation was serious and important but he couldn’t help but joke.

“Oh, I’ll do it for you, Sherl!” Kat quickly jumped in before Ernest had a chance to open his mouth. She knew he would but she decided that it was her turn now. “You wait there like a good boy!” 

She gave Ernest a last squeeze and walked away, humming to herself.

“What did you tell her, pinstripes? She’s never been this happy before over something that isn’t food. And she’s doing a chore  _ herself!  _ I never thought I would see the day.”

“You tell me. You’ve listened to our whole conversation!”

Sherl raised his eyebrows. “Where did this confidence come from? What is happening around here?”

“Katrielle and I have just talked things out,” Ernest explained matter-of-factly. “I think things are going to get better from here.”

“I think so too,” Sherl grinned. 

Kat placed his dog bowl on the ground with a “Bon appetite!” and a wide smile. Sherl shook his head but got to drinking. She plonked herself on the sofa next to Ernest and passed him a lemonade which he accepted gratefully. The rest of the day was spent sipping lemonade and eating the rest of the cookies. The lemonade spill on the floor that represented bottled up feelings was still seeping into the carpet, forgotten.


End file.
